


The Prince of Romance

by ftbprotocol



Series: Bunnies I Might Continue [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brothers, Friendship, Gen, Gen Work, Roleswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ftbprotocol/pseuds/ftbprotocol
Summary: Prince Gladiolus has just set out from Insomnia with his trusty advisor Prompto, his best friend Noctis, and his overprotective shield Ignis. Going off what he's read in stories, it's the start of a fairy tale romance... right?Gen fill for a roleswap prompt on the kinkmeme.
Series: Bunnies I Might Continue [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809706
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18
Collections: FFXV Kinkmeme





	The Prince of Romance

**Author's Note:**

> Original Prompt: Gen or OT4, roleswap  
> Everything is the same, except the roles of prince, shield, advisor and commoner best friend are swapped among the chocobros. For example, Prompto is the prince, Noctis is his shield, Gladio is his advisor and Ignis is his best friend. Or maybe Ignis is the prince, Prompto is his shield, Noctis is his advisor and Gladio is his best friend. Go wild! I'd love to see how their personalities shape how they fill these different roles.
> 
> +++
> 
> Probably not exactly what the prompt was looking for but I had fun with the idea of Gladio as the prince who uses an obsession with romance novels to escape the realities of being royalty. So didn't use... any of the suggested roles swaps posted, hope the person doesn't mind!

“Not exactly a fairy tale beginning, huh Prince Gladiolus?”

Gladio looked up from his book, reluctant to leave the world contained within the brand new  Amor Fabula series. He’d packed it specifically for this trip, knowing he soon wouldn’t have the time to indulge in his reading, not once he met his bride-to-be in Altissia at least. 

Noct, leaning casually against the burnt out remains of a tree providing Gladio with the only shade to be seen for miles, smiled apologetically down at him.

“Nah,” Gladio snorted. “Prompto will have it fixed in no time.”

“Hmm.” Noctis hummed skeptically, looking over to where the Regalia was parked on the side of the road, its hood up. 

Gladio followed his friend's gaze, watching as Prompto leaned awkwardly over the engine, checking something deep in the hood while Ignis stood guard next to him. As they watched, one of Prompto’s hands waved in the space between the two men and Ignis reached down to grab a tool and pass it to him.

“Not your fault.” Gladio assured Noct.

“You say that but…” Noct rubbed the back of his neck in a familiar nervous gesture.

“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine for forcing Ignis to let someone else drive.”

“I have the worst luck,” Noct groaned. “I don’t even know how it happened!”

“Hey, you wanted a chance to drive the royal car and the beginning of the trip seemed like the safest time.” Gladio assured him easily. “If anything, Prompto is blaming himself more than you for not checking the car over properly first.”

“Yeah… guess you’re right.” Noct sighed.

“Of course I am.” Gladio smirked. “That’s why I’m the prince.”

“The prince of romance, more like.” Noctis nudged him with his foot. “How many of those did you bring anyway?”

“Hey!” Gladio protested in mock offence, “this is the only new one! I promised Prompto and Ignis I’d only bring the one.”

“Hmm.” Noctis smirked knowingly. "Really?"

Gladio debated if it was worth it to play innocent, but knew if he did so Noct would probably bring it up with the group at the worst possible moment.

He sighed in defeat, “please don’t tell them.”

“Maybe…” Noctis tapped his lip, pretending to deliberate. “But only if you let me read Beyond The Blue Mountain.”

“But that’s my fav- fine.” Gladio quickly conceded at Noct's raised eyebrow. “But you better not crease the spine this time.”

“Sheesh, a guy makes a mistake one time-”

“Prince Gladiolus! Noctis!” Ignis called. They both looked up to see the shield waving them over.

Prompto was now wiping his hands on a rag and looked very self-satisfied. Gladio smiled in relief, he knew Prompto would be able to do it, even if Prompto had cautioned him against expecting results. The blonde was a whiz with anything mechanical or electronic. In fact, ever since the day he’d become Gladio’s advisor he’d made a point of covering for Gladio’s own disastrous record with technology. 

“Break times over.” Gladio sent the book back into his armiger with a flick of his wrist and stood up.

He glanced over at Noct, who was straightening from his slouch and casually said, “by the way, you know burnt trees are covered in soot, right?”

“What?!” Noctis looked down at his shoulder and gaped at the black stuff now coating his shirt. He started to  swipe frantically at his ruined shirt, spreading it all over his hands. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier!?”

“You were already feeling sorry for yourself, didn’t want to make it worse. And then you blackmailed the Prince of Lucis...” Gladio teased.

“Ugh, screw you man.” Noct grumbled, accepting the cloth Gladio magnanimously summoned from the armiger.

The prince just laughed, happy once again that his best friend had been allowed to join him on the trip to Altissia. No one else, besides his shield and advisor, dared to speak so casually to him.

He hadn’t asked Noctis to join the crownsguard. In fact his friend hadn’t even told him that he’d joined until he’d just shown up one day at Gladio’s apartment in full uniform.

Gladio had been so touched. He’d spent many evenings hanging out and voicing his worries for the future to his commoner friend. Noctis had been sympathetic, but hadn’t really been able to offer any advice, the situation so far outside of his experience. Gladio had been content to just have a sympathetic ear to vent to. 

So it was just like his friend, who sometimes had trouble articulating his own feelings, to go and show his support for Gladio in a meaningful and physical gesture.

By the time the two of them reached the car, Prompto was putting the tools away in the trunk while Ignis watched yet another vehicle drive by them without stopping to help. Gladio instantly relaxed when he heard the car’s engine idling.

“So what’s the story?” Gladio asked Prompto and Ignis.

“Well, I’ll spare you the details,” Prompto began, well aware by now that Gladio zoned out if he gave him more than a summary, “but she should be good to go.” Prompto closed the trunk gently and continued, “my patch job should hold until we get her into a proper shop at Hammerhead.”

“Good job.” Gladio praised, “for a minute there I thought we’d have to push her the whole way.”

“That would surely have been an undignified beginning to our journey, your highness.” Ignis smiled.

“Can’t believe no one stopped to even ask if we needed help.” Noct, who gave up trying to get the last of the soot off his grey t-shirt, chimed in.

“Perhaps it’s for the best,” Ignis said before Gladio could agree with Noct, “the less people who know the prince is out of the city the better.”

“But what about the cease-fire?” Noct asked. “Shouldn’t it be safe?”

“With the Empire, you can never be too careful. And not every Lucian is happy with the terms of the peace treaty.” Ignis answered seriously. “In fact,” Ignis adjusted his glasses, “when we arrive in Hammerhead we should look into acquiring clothes in the local fashion. I fear our city attire will just make us stand out even more outside the capital city.”

Gladio sighed and nodded, “yeah yeah.” Ignis, as his shield, was sometimes a bit overzealous when it came to the prince’s security. It grated on his nerves sometimes, making him feel smothered. He was a grown man and could take care of himself! It was the source of many arguments in the past.

“We’re keeping the Regalia.” Gladio stated, reiterating that he was not budging on this point. Ignis had wanted to change cars once they reached Hammerhead, but Gladio just didn’t see the point. Plus he really liked the car, it held many good memories with his father.

“Of course, your highness.”

“Can we go now? I’m dying in this heat.” Noct asked, tossing Gladio the dirty rag back. Gladio caught it, barely avoided getting ash on his hand. He gave Noct and unimpressed look and dismissed it into the armiger. Noct's lips twitched.

“Alright!” Prompto jumped into the driver's seat without opening the door. Ignis winced but said nothing.

“You’re driving?” Gladio asked, opening the door to the passenger seat and getting in.

“Yeah,” Prompto said from beside him, while Ignis slid into the seat behind Prompto, “we agreed this way I can better listen to the engine and quickly adjust. Don’t want to  push the girl too hard or we may end up pushing after all.”

"Gotcha." Gladio looked back at Ignis. “They still not answering?”

“No,” Ignis shook his head, “only a busy signal.”

The garage at Hammerhead had to be a popular place for the phone to always be busy.

“It’s really close though, right? Why’s pushing such a big deal?” Noct asked.

“Not  that close.” Prompto answered, pulling out onto the road. Once he did, he kept the car at a slow crawl. Just enough to keep them moving but not enough to stress his patch job.

“But don’t worry, we still have plenty of time to make it to the wedding.” Prompto reached over and lightly punched Gladio’s shoulder.

“Eh, take your time.” Gladio slouched further down in the seat, stretching out his legs. “I’m in no rush.”

The prince summoned his book back into his hands and got himself comfortable. As much as his impending marriage looked like something right out of a romance novel or fairy tale, the reality was far more complicated.

But, for just a few more days, he could settle in with a good story and hope that his future marriage ended half as well as the ones in the stories.

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to keep it simple and sweet as a kind of proof of concept. Might consider redoing more scenes at a later date. I figure Ignis and Gladio would clash a lot in this set up, (Gladio does not like Ignis smothering and being over protective) which could add some good drama. And Noctis would be a huge foody and cat hoarder, probably works at the local shelter even. Prompto, driven by his need to live up to expectations, becomes very good with tech and machinery - to better help and advise his friend (probably hacks the citadel at some point).
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
